Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1887-04-06


come when 1 get the log-book and
chronometer. Look to your ship"
He turned. and, motioning the crew
to follow, crawled forward to the fore
castle. BY working half under water,
they succeeded in letting 60 the lee
anchor, and the chain, having no stop
per but a spun-yarn lashing, ran out
to the bitter-end; and lung from the
bows straight up and down in the
water, one hundred and twenty fathoms
long. The effect was immediate.
Pressed by the squall, the ship swung
round; as II pivoted on the chain, and
when the under side of the spars and
remnants of the sails caught the gale.
she righted slowly to an even keel;
and lay head to wind, the torn canvas
and broken spars, aloft, Stating and
banging.
II was just in time. for the first vio-
'lence of the squat, which had kept the
water fiat, was now abated, and the
waves began to rise rapidly. They
came with a rush that showed strength
enough to have soon wrenched of the
matches and sunk the ship. had she re-
NAMED upon her beam-ends.
When a semblance of order was re-
stored aloft, and the vessel placed un-
der command again. the captain went
below TO tell his wife that all danger
was passed. In few moments his ex-
cited voice was heard calling:
"Send the carpenter aft"
"Chips" obeyed the summons; and,
when he entered the cabin, was aston
ished to find the captains wife damned
by heavy chest against splintered
lee bulkhead, and half covered with
broken crockery from the shelves Of
the stewards locker. When the ship
went over she had jumped from her
bed to run on deck, but the chest
broke away from its lashings on the
weather side, and, sliding across the
floor, knocked her down, and half
through the thin pine panelling, hold
ing her there bruised, bleeding and un-
able to move.
She knew that If her husband left the
deck to come to her rescue, the few
moments in which he might right the
ship would be lost. When he called
through the broken port she said moth
ing Of her situation, feeling sure that
if advised Of it, his first thoughts
would be for her. She purposely mis-
led him by her feigned solicitude for the
safety of tho log-book, and, forgetting
her own danger, admonished him to
look to his ship. II the vessel had
gone down. she would have been
drowned like a helpless animal in q
trap; but she ran the risk, in order
that the crew on deck might not be
diverted from their efforts to save the
ship. With this end in view, she
made no outcry when the heaving of
the ship moved the chest back and
forth, grinding her against the sharp
splinters. She had tainted from pain
when the captain found her. Part Of
the bulkhead had to be cut away to re-
lease her, without further liberation
from the ragged edges of the wood
work.
When the carpenter went forward
he told what he had seen in the cabin;
and the man who had been at the
wheel related the conversation that
had passed between the captain and
his wife through the window. The
crew were impressed. Sailors I'M
avoidably see so much that is unlove-
ly in women that they are especially
quick to recognize true womanhood,
and are outspoken admirers of that
high moral courage which often
nerves delicate ladies, in times of
great danger, to a heroism seldom
equalled by the sterner sex.
After breakfast, the next Sunday
morning, Mrs. White appeared on
deck, for the first time since the squall.
She was seated in an easy-chair on the
quarterback, her arm IN sling, and
bandagc round her forehead. The Off.
GERS were suddenly startled by seeing
the crew come aft in body; and, re-
Numbering their former experience,
Immediately assumed defensive at.
titude.
One of the men treasured them by
advancing as spokesman, and saying,
with much rude eloquence, that they
wished to thank Mrs. White for her
brave and unselfish action, both by
saving her husband and for Indirectly
saving the ship when struck by the
squat, as they knew well that, had she
been released first. the ship could not
have been righted afterwards. They
had been so determined, that a show
of force by the officers would not have
sufliced to make them work the vessel
to Montevidco; but the courage and
kindness of the weakest member of tho
ships company had done more than
all the powder and ball in the arm
chest could have accomplished; name
ly, induced them to give up their in
tention to mutiny again, and run the
ship ashore near Pernambuco.
They all felt that she should be
credited with the prevention of mutiny
and bloodshed, the safety of the ship
and the lives of the officers. Present
ing their respects to Mrs. White, they
assured her and tho officers that they
would be peaceablc and subordinate
for the rest Of the voyage. The man
who had been wounded during the
mutiny brought aft hammock which
he had made of cod-line for Mrs White,
and when he had slung it in the shade
Of sail, she was placed in it, we'll
pleased at the influence good woman
could have over sixteen lawless and
desperate men.